2025 SPRING GAME RESULTS

[THAT S--T WAS FUNNY]

DId all the kids have helmets for the game or did they have to borrow a few from Da' Gib?

[MarkECannon]

I attended the marathon Lakeland jamboree.  A lot of water, Orange Gatorade and SP50 got me through the three team round robin.  I made it to halftime of the big matchup night game but my back told me to get home to Auburndale.  

I agree with most of Longtime Observer’s review of Lakeland/Jesuit.  I would point out the Dreadnaughts had the lead going into the 4th quarter despite multiple mishaps and the sloppiness of the offense.  The defense caused multiple turnovers.  The placekicker has a powerful leg.  Except for the OL the rest of the team has what it takes to be successful.  I saw 10 teams play this weekend and in my opinion Lakeland’s OL was 2nd from the bottom.  That’s my opinion.  

Jesuit is a serious state title contender this year.  Obviously, they cannot turn the ball like they did yesterday.  Jesuit tied with Port Charlotte for the most complete team I took in this weekend.  Those two teams also have the best QB’s I saw this weekend.  Griffin was elite most of the night for Jesuit.

Quick opinions of other teams.

Spruce Creek- Well coached, well conditioned, small but mostly effective OL, DL Freddie Wilson is a stud.  The sun, fatigue and Evan’s talent & size caused the Creek to succumb to the Trojans.  Enjoyed watching them play.

Evans - Looked good for the most part.  Once they realized Spruce Creek was collapsing the Trojans began rolling.  They lost their focus midway through the Lake Gibson half and almost let that get away from them.  They will be as good as they want to be but please develop a kicking game.  The young Woods brothers have a chance to be great ones.  The RB #4 looked like a talented, powerful back.  #71 played well at guard and tackle.  Evans ran behind him successfully quite a bit.

Lake Gibson - They passed the eye test but they played somewhat lethargically.  To their credit they started to rise up some in the 2nd quarter of the Evans game and had an opportunity to win it.  One of the coaches was reading them the riot act trying to get them to play with more passion.  If they get their act together and raise their conditioning they could have a nice season.
 

 

[Longtime Observer]

1 hour ago, MarkECannon said:

Except for the OL the rest of the team has what it takes to be successful.  I saw 10 teams play this weekend and in my opinion Lakeland’s OL was 2nd from the bottom.  That’s my opinion.  

 

Can't argue with you here. It was the most pathetic looking OL Lakeland has had since before Bill Castle became coach in 1976. It's the worst case scenario of what one could expect from a team who only listed seven OLs in the 10-man 2-deep they submitted to the FHSAA for the state title game (5 of which were seniors), and had a 23 year-old janitor as OL coach...who's behind bars for stealing from the program. Whether they are able to fix anything over summer or not remains to be seen. But, the makeup of the > 275 lbs. members of the roster is shockingly lacking. I assume many of the types of players they used to get all the time are elsewhere, like LCS. Maybe they can recruit members of the cheerleading squad to play OL.

[561_Fan]

Pahokee 41, Deerfield Beach 6

was surprised to see Pahokee dominate the lines of scrimmage and out-physical Deerfield. Deerfield has some nice WRs 3 and I forgot the other kids #

[PinellasFB]

16 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:

Jesuit beats Lakeland, 30-17.

Jesuit also missed an EASY TD in the 3rd quarter when a wide open WR burned the db but dropped an easy TD. Lakeland also missed some opportunities to score, but one gets the impression they just aren't that sharp and/or skilled.

At the moment, Lakeland will not be a threat to do anything of significance this season. They need 4-5 transfers who are > 275 lbs, a competent offensive coordinator, and the return of Malik Morris. As is now, the OL is incredibly anemic looking, the offensive coordination and execution continues to be poor, and the defense is clearly a couple notches down from last year. I have to assume a new OC is not yet present or involved with anything, and that may change over summer. On the first possession of the game, they hit a TD, but it was called back because several OLs were several yards downfield blocking *nobody* on a forward pass. They faced 3rd and 13 and guess what? They took their QB, with several upper level offers to his name, off the field to run wildcat. Reminiscent of the state title game debacle. 

At the moment, Lakeland is looking at a running clock loss to MNW, a decisive loss to DLS, a running clock loss to First Academy, and they have no chance vs. Tampa Bay Tech in the playoffs. If they get those 4-5 "big ugly" transfers, a new and competent OC, and Malik Morris back, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

How did the transfer QB from Tarpon Springs look?  Are you guys ready to take back that apartment for him lol?

[Zachk1003]

17 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:

Jesuit beats Lakeland, 30-17.

Jesuit also missed an EASY TD in the 3rd quarter when a wide open WR burned the db but dropped an easy TD. Lakeland also missed some opportunities to score, but one gets the impression they just aren't that sharp and/or skilled.

At the moment, Lakeland will not be a threat to do anything of significance this season. They need 4-5 transfers who are > 275 lbs, a competent offensive coordinator, and the return of Malik Morris. As is now, the OL is incredibly anemic looking, the offensive coordination and execution continues to be poor, and the defense is clearly a couple notches down from last year. I have to assume a new OC is not yet present or involved with anything, and that may change over summer. On the first possession of the game, they hit a TD, but it was called back because several OLs were several yards downfield blocking *nobody* on a forward pass. They faced 3rd and 13 and guess what? They took their QB, with several upper level offers to his name, off the field to run wildcat. Reminiscent of the state title game debacle. 

At the moment, Lakeland is looking at a running clock loss to MNW, a decisive loss to DLS, a running clock loss to First Academy, and they have no chance vs. Tampa Bay Tech in the playoffs. If they get those 4-5 "big ugly" transfers, a new and competent OC, and Malik Morris back, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Ok I may be wrong on my evaluation of Jesuit entering the year 

[Longtime Observer]

1 hour ago, PinellasFB said:

How did the transfer QB from Tarpon Springs look?  Are you guys ready to take back that apartment for him lol?

I think he can be really good, actually. It's just that with such a weak OL and still no offensive coordinator, no one can really shine like that.

[Longtime Observer]

16 minutes ago, Zachk1003 said:

Ok I may be wrong on my evaluation of Jesuit entering the year 

Too early to say either way. 

[DILLARDBOYZ954]

2 hours ago, 561_Fan said:

Pahokee 41, Deerfield Beach 6

was surprised to see Pahokee dominate the lines of scrimmage and out-physical Deerfield. Deerfield has some nice WRs 3 and I forgot the other kids #

This is a surprising one Deerfield must be way down again going into this year and the blue devils look to be solid once again. 

[561_Fan]

2 hours ago, DILLARDBOYZ954 said:

This is a surprising one Deerfield must be way down again going into this year and the blue devils look to be solid once again. 

It could’ve been worse, Pahokee WRs dropped 2 deep passes that would’ve been touchdowns. 

[PinellasFB]

3 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:

I think he can be really good, actually. It's just that with such a weak OL and still no offensive coordinator, no one can really shine like that.

I've seen him play in person several times.  He has a cannon.  He definitely would benefit from a good QB coach to work on the decision making though.

[PinellasFB]

4 hours ago, Zachk1003 said:

Ok I may be wrong on my evaluation of Jesuit entering the year 

Jesuit is never down.  Not with that talent pipeline in from the youth leagues.

[THAT S--T WAS FUNNY]

6 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:

Can't argue with you here. It was the most pathetic looking OL Lakeland has had since before Bill Castle became coach in 1976. It's the worst case scenario of what one could expect from a team who only listed seven OLs in the 10-man 2-deep they submitted to the FHSAA for the state title game (5 of which were seniors), and had a 23 year-old janitor as OL coach...who's behind bars for stealing from the program. Whether they are able to fix anything over summer or not remains to be seen. But, the makeup of the > 275 lbs. members of the roster is shockingly lacking. I assume many of the types of players they used to get all the time are elsewhere, like LCS. Maybe they can recruit members of the cheerleading squad to play OL.

In some cases when a really successful program goes through a HC change along with new assistants, it may take a few years before you start seeing things start to chip away.

[Longtime Observer]

Once Bill Galloway moved to Tennessee after the 2003 season, It was a one-man deal with Castle. The assistsants have been a mixed bag, with some quality and much turnover in staff.

I do think, despite never fielding teams that would be particularly competitive with the 'Naughts, the rise of the two Christian private schools have cut into Lakeland's program more than may be understood. Many lineman and "locker room" or "glue guys" that the program always had have started playing for Victory or LCS. With them, they took some wealthier, ardent boosters of the program as well. A result is the often weird dynamic of home games where the crowd is pretty large in size, but the resevred spaces around midfield are empty. The folks who would've (and maybe even still do) buy season tickets now send their kids to LCS or Victory, so they are no longer in attendance on Friday nights. This all started in the early 1990s with the opening of George Jenkins High. At the time, there was much controversy around zoning, with many voicing the (perhaps partially racist) concern that LHS would become an "inner city" school. While GJ has never amounted to much in football, the idea itself opened some minds in the very religious city to seek other options.

IMO, Victory and LCS should set their egos aside, and agree to field only one team between the two. Invest all the money and time into that one program. And we could see another version of The First Academy, where school staff incessantly claim that Jesus is on their side, that opposition to their program amounts to opposing Jesus etc. There's enough talent in Lakeland to field exactly one nationally elite program.  I think if the privates consolidated, they'd have the best chance at this long-term.

[DILLARDBOYZ954]

3 hours ago, 561_Fan said:

It could’ve been worse, Pahokee WRs dropped 2 deep passes that would’ve been touchdowns. 

Lit! How do you see them doing this year ? Hopefully they have a legit schedule to test them throughout the season 

[561_Fan]

13 hours ago, DILLARDBOYZ954 said:

Lit! How do you see them doing this year ? Hopefully they have a legit schedule to test them throughout the season 

Injury free, a 9/10 win regular season. Playoffs depend on how our d-coordinator adjusts to option only football, because we don’t see that in the regular season. Depth is going to an issue (backup QB and OL) is going to be a key.  Last year, Union County set spread film and played triple-option all game

[MarkECannon]

Windermere is hosting Edgewater and Kissimmee Osceola in a jamboree Thursday night.  Windermere went 10-0 last year as a freelance.  Would anyone be able to tell me about their football program?  How do you think they will fare against 2 big dogs?

[nolebull813]

1 hour ago, MarkECannon said:

Windermere is hosting Edgewater and Kissimmee Osceola in a jamboree Thursday night.  Windermere went 10-0 last year as a freelance.  Would anyone be able to tell me about their football program?  How do you think they will fare against 2 big dogs?

They would get killed Against both teams. They played one of the worst schedules in the state against teams that have no business playing varsity football. They were so bad that they had to secede out of district play for lack of competitive performances. 
 

But I do want to be on record for agreeing 100% that every team who can’t compete in the playoffs should go the independent route. So kudos to them and the other teams who were proactive and understood the landscape.

[nolebull813]

When I criticize teams is bad or horrible, or whatever, I am not criticizing the kids, coaches, or resources. I am simply just giving my opinion of the performance on the football field. Not every team can have high caliber football players. Most teams have to work with what they got. And a lot of times all they have to work with results in poor performances. I just want to clarify that.

[Ray Icaza]

10 hours ago, MarkECannon said:

Windermere is hosting Edgewater and Kissimmee Osceola in a jamboree Thursday night.  Windermere went 10-0 last year as a freelance.  Would anyone be able to tell me about their football program?  How do you think they will fare against 2 big dogs?

It is a relatively new school with new field finally installed last year.  Word has they have gotten a few decent transfers and they return CJ Bronaugh this year's FL state 100-meter champ who holds several offers and is currently a Nebraska commit.   Osceola graduated a bunch of top talent that will be impossible to replace, but they are working hard and do return a decent core of players.  I think they will utilize the spring game to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses as opposed to worrying too much on the outcome which means zilch at this stage in the game.   Do plan to attend.

[Ray Icaza]

This fact may or may not be relevant to their aspirations in football, but they have built one of the best boys basketball "PROGRAMS" over the last 4 or 5 years in the entire Central FL area.  They advanced to the state finals this year and were obviously defeated by Miami Columbus Explorers in the championship game;  Columbus ended up being the mythical National Champ.  Only bring this up as Windermere is in an upscale area of Orlando with plenty of "RESOURCES" to help "BUILD" a program.  Process this as you would like.  

[JDHoss]

Anyone know when the jamboree at Coconut Creek is supposed to start on Thursday? I've looked on the FB pages of the schools and can't find anything. 

[MarkECannon]

Josh’s list says 4pm.

[JDHoss]

9 hours ago, MarkECannon said:

Josh’s list says 4pm.

I see that now. I must have overlooked it earlier. Thanks! I wish it was starting at 6:00 though. We went to one at Palm Beach Gardens last year and the heat was suffocating. 

[Holy Moly]

Florida High 34 Choctaw 28